Opening Date: April 5th, 1998
Closing Date: January 12th, 2011
The Enchanted Tiki Room is a Disney classic dating back to Walt Disney himself, but that doesn't mean that it is untouchable. In the 1990s Disney attempted to reinvigorate the show with characters from two of its most recent hits, Aladdin and The Lion King.
They opened a new version of the show that saw the Tiki Room get a few new inhabitants, mainly Zazu from The Lion King and Iago from Aladdin. They were both the new co-owners of the classic location and tell the birds of the original show (appearing through reused archival audio of the original version) they need to reinvent themselves to modern standards.
In this version, the classic tiki music and original songs were replaced with pop songs and rewritten modern Disney songs. The birds actively mocked the original version of the show and argued over how to make it better until they anger a tiki goddess.
This show was not exactly beloved during its time in the Magic Kingdom, and it never got the acclaim that the original version did. Fans of the original got a shortened version of the opening song followed by a show that made fun of that version, and the new version was filled with pop songs that didn't age as timelessly as the original show did.
In early 2011, disaster struck as a freak fire hit the attraction in the middle of a performance. No one was injured, but the attraction was damaged beyond being operable. Rumors placed it as having destroyed Iago, while leaving most of the attraction unharmed.
The decision was made to revert the attraction back to its original version rather than restore the Under New Management version. As a result, it never got a proper send-off.
The tiki goddess from the attraction is currently on display in Trader Sam's in Disney's Polynesian Villiage Resort in Walt Disney World, but beyond that, there are few references left to this attraction anywhere.
This attraction was not the best, but it was at the most popular Disney Park in the world for over a decade and left almost no trace. Today we pay tribute to it for what it was, a rocky attempt to reboot a classic for modern audiences that brought two Disney Reinassance films to the park in a meaningful way that wouldn't have had a place in the park without this show.
Did you ever get a chance to see this show during its time at Walt Disney World? Let us know your opinion on this attraction in the comments below.
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